The intravenous (IV) administration of fluids to patients is often a medical necessity. Many diverse and varied fluids are commonly administered in this manner.
Customarily, a needle is used to insert a catheter into a vein in the patient's arm or other body location. After the catheter is firmly inserted in the vein, it is secured to the patient as with a small strip of adhesive tape. The IV line is then started as quickly as possible that is, within a minute or two, to avoid clotting.
Inserting a catheter into a vein is not painless. More importantly, both the fluids themselves and those which contain other therapeutic agents often must be administered at precise rates. An unplanned cessation of therapy such as results from the line becoming unstuck can therefore range from an annoyance to a serious problem. Further, the ability of the patient to use the hand or arm so connected to an IV line is greatly reduced. Accordingly, firmly securing the IV line to the patient is important. To date, no wholly satisfactory means has been found to secure the line without risk of detachment arising from patient movement.
The only solution that has been found heretofore involves the applying layers of adhesive tape, to secure the catheter to the arm of the patient, one remote from and one at the IV site. This has been less than satisfactory both because of the propensity of the adhesive to become detached as well as the irritation caused by the adhesive in many patients, particularly those having unduly hairy arms or heightened sensitivity to adhesive.
Thus a need exists to provide a means to support an IV line which is installed to provide vital fluid to a patient. Such means must secure the line firmly at the administration site and at the same time minimize the use of adhesive tape and like irritants in securing the line while allowing the patient the ability to better use the hand or arm so connected without fear of detaching the line therefrom. It is toward the solution of this problem that the present invention is directed.